Observations

The Coast
It's typical in Ghana to promote good tidings to enhance your commercial output. Often times I will see little business called something like "God is love barbershop" and "Christechnology cell phones"
Every once in a while a truck filled with matching people are singing at the top of their lungs. It's a miracle they don't all pop out.
A smaller tro-tro but typical scene. Tro-tros are run by two dudes, one driving and one getting out yelling always with hand signals. Whenever they stop, women with assorted goodies on their head come selling and people shove money out the window in order to get a hold of Ghana's finest products.

The crowded market of Accra
Chicken Farm where I live

As I stroll along on only my third day, my paper is already full of some interesting observations I’ve made. I think the pen and the paper has been my greatest asset so far in Ghana. First, a note on the weather. I have found it decently temperate and sleeping at night has not been a issue as a result of the weather. It gets hot and smelly on the tro-tros, but the weather doesn't get much above 85. On to more interesting things…like begging. And how there is virtually none of it. I remember reading that it is strictly forbidden to give money to a beggar. The one beggar I saw was clearly not, at least by physical appearance, Ghanaian by any means. Perhaps there is an impetus to demonstrate pride and confidence in their country. Everyone here works, at least at something no how unimportant it may seem. There is little to no government cushion upon which to fall back if something goes wrong. In fact when I bought a pot for cooking today for 13,000 cedis (about $1.30) it was wrapped in some Ghanaian newspaper and when I unwrapped it at home I thought I’d give it a read. I think this may reflect some of the frustration regarding ceremony and misuse of funds. The title is “Life at 50 not easy”:

“As the economy smells of hardship and unstable conditions such as flip-flop energy and constant shortage in water supply, so do some areas of Accra smell of hazardous refuse dumps…This appalling stench that residents breathe makes one feel so helpless. Taking a stroll or sleeping in your own house is even more dangerous because the strong and often unbearable stench has so much polluted the air you actually breathe in.

Meanwhile, top government officials drive in sophisticated cars and are spending billions on the celebration of a 50^th independence anniversary that is not reflecting in the pockets of the ordinary Ghanaian and the health of their nationals is not good…The roads are in conditions that make journeying to work and back a daunting task. There have been many promises from the sitting MP but many of them are yet to be fulfilled…Do these residents not deserve the best of environments of devoid of polythene and plastic materials that serve as decorations of their walls and compounds? I wonder what stops city authorities from using incinerators to get rid of the city’s filth, especially in an era where energy crises are the order of the day, and when we are capable of spending a fortune of our scarce resources on celebrations that are of little consequence to our situation.”

I also remember reading an article in The Economist regarding the ostentatious funerals in Ghana that has shown to be a huge waste of resources. Like I mentioned in the last post, the place can get to be pretty smelly and obviously the people are not pleased about it. Even in the largest city of the country, not many people are looking to well off in Accra. The people seem happy, but know there is much to be achieved are tired of corrupt politics that is rampant in Ghana and most of Africa. Ghana is slowly progressing; It was the first country to achieve independence 50 years ago and has avoided serious civil strife since. Yet they are not teeming in opulent resources and need to develop (with help from the big dogs, of course) global markets.

Anyhow, more observations of the interactive variety. As I mentioned earlier, people love to help out, but as also mentioned they can be way off. I had a funny instance of this happening to me today as I searched for a mobile phone store. Every 100 meters or so there are these stations set up comprised of a small chair and a tattered beach tent under which there is a guy selling phone credit. Naturally I asked one dude if he knew of the phone store on this road and said that I would need transportation. I duly explained how much I enjoyed walking and he told me that the store was 20 km away! I had heard this store existed I was however not exactly sure where it was. I timed the walk and needless to say I arrived 8 minutes and 25 seconds later only to find the store closed. 20 km??? Really? As a vendor of cell phone minutes, that is not very sound advice unless his business partner is the kingpin of the tro-tro cartel. However there is still no doubt that people are unbelievable kind, and are surprised to see me walking alone. Not as a matter of safety, but as one 18 year old Muhammed explained, one should have a friend to show them around. Pride reigns and it stresses an importance of taking care of people in your community and leaving no one behind. People want to help, they welcome me here and almost always tell me that Ghana is free. Free to be who you want, practice whatever religion you like (Muhammed and his brother Sidek are Muslim, while their sister is Christian) no matter what color the skin.